Background: Thymus species are well-known as medicinal plants. It was aimed to investigate the chemical
composition of
Thymus pectinatus
(TP) and its antioxidant, antimicrobial, antispasmodic, and angiogenic activities.
Materials and Methods: After essential oil of TP (EO-TP) was obtained with clevenger distillation system, it was
analyzed for chemical composition with GC-MS. To study antispasmodic activity, eight male Wistar albino rats each
weighing approximately 250-300 g were used.
Results: The results of the analysis revealed 19 components, which equals to 92.93 of the essential oil. The following
are the main components;
thymol (48.77%),
m-cymene (9.15%),
isoborneol (5.19%),
trans-caryophyllene (4.43%),
carvacrol (3.91%) and
-terpinene (3.54%). It has been found that microorganisms subjected to whole all of
microbiological tests are highly resistant to EO-TP. 2,2- diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl radical, along with
superoxide radical scavenging, and lipid peroxidation says were utilized to show the antioxidant activities of the EO-TP.
In measuring its effect, 0.1 mg/mL and 0.5 mg/mL dosage of the EO-TP was applied to the rat ileum as a result of
which the magnitude and the frequency of the contractions were observed to be significantly.
Conclusion: It was also understood that EO-TP had angiogenic effect upon the vein system of the embryos of chicks.
There is a need for further studies to clarify the mechanisms of antimicrobial, antioxidant and angiogenic effects and to
determine the constituents of EO-TP responsible from these effects, especially the angiogenic.